Semiconductor lasers are commonly used in applications such as color display and printing systems, medical diagnostic devices, and optical data storage methods. Such applications continue to benefit from the ongoing developments being made in the field of solid-state laser technology. Currently, there is considerable interest in the development of a practical miniaturized laser which is capable of producing optical radiation in the blue spectral region (i.e., radiation having a wavelength of approximately 455 to 492 nm). As can be readily appreciated, a blue laser is particularly well-suited for a color display or printing application based on an RGB graphical format. But a more attractive feature of the blue laser is the smaller wavelength of its emitted radiation in comparison to the wavelength of the radiation produced by most conventional semiconductor lasers. An optical data storage system utilizing a blue laser, for example, is capable of providing about four times the storage capacity of a comparable system utilizing a red laser.